Cho's Sun
by BFangz
Summary: A slice of Cho life. A chance meeting with a pretty girl can lead to who knows what!
1. Meeting

**Note: **I think this is going to be a multi chapter effort.  
I didn't expect it to run on the way it did.  
The original concept was a simple one-shot,  
but Cho seemed to have his own ideas.

* * *

**Cho's Sun  
**Chapter 01  
(Getting to Know You)

His eyes snapped open and he realized that it was bright and sunny. Smiling, he arched his back, supporting his weight against the firm bed on his heels and head. He relaxed the bridge, brought his knees to his chest and snapped to an upright position, executing a quarter turn to his left and placed his bare feet on the cooler hardwood floor. Cho stretched, did a few simple Tai Chi movements, stood, and fell face forward on the floor, catching himself on his hands. From this position, he did fifty quick pushups and bounced erect, not even breathing hard.

He walked to his window and pulled the curtain aside, the bright morning sun making a lean and muscular silhouette of his form. Since he slept only in briefs, the definition in his back, triceps and quads was obvious. This was not a weight lifter's bulked up body. This was the hard leanness of a gymnast or, as in fact, a martial artist.

Cho smiled again. Sunday was usually his favorite day of the week. CBI could occupy most of the normal work week, but normally did not make too many demands on the weekend. Saturday was his chore day and he did stay busy almost all day. He volunteered at a youth center and the taught, for pay, a class on Krav Maga, at a local gym. After shopping and eating, the day was mostly gone.

The path he chose around the lake in Discovery Park was about two miles. He adjusted the small gun, in its concealed holster, inside the band of his sweat pants. Regulations dictated that he be armed and have his badge 24/7, but he hated it. While regulations did say he had to be armed, they did not specify the weapon, other than "in possession of a fire arm". His compromise was to select a very small two shot .25 caliber derringer. Up close, its little hollow points could be devastating, and it was very easy to conceal.

Setting off at an easy jog, he enjoyed the briskness of the morning air. Odds were it would get much warmer, soon. This was a good time of day, he thought. Seventeen minutes later he returned to his starting point and sat down next to the bike trail. His body was vibrating with energy and he felt good. "A good day to be alive," he mused.

He heard someone jogging towards him and turned to face that direction. A very pretty young Asian was approaching, using an easy gliding gate that indicated she was not working all that hard, just enjoying the experience. She was wearing cut on jeans – very cut off, and a sports bra. Her midriff was lean, showing a "four" pack, and her arms and legs showed good definition. He followed her with his eyes as she passed, turning to keep her in sight.

She saw his interest, and felt his eyes on her as she passed. She abruptly stopped and turned to face him. He was fascinated as her long black hair extended from the speed of the turn. She was wearing in pulled back, in a pony tail, a good style for jogging. "You see something you like," she asked with an edge of hostility and wariness to her voice.

Cho liked the fire in her eyes and the strength of her attitude. Nor did he miss that she was carrying a small canister of pepper spray in her right hand. "Yes, Ma'am, I do," he said rising slowly. She took one step in reasonably concealed display alarm. "Did you just do a two mile course?"

His nonthreatening attitude and the technical question allayed her concern, somewhat. "Yes, I was taking it easy and only turned in a 14:30. I have things I need to do today, so I didn't want to burn out this early."

Cho smiled. "You were more energetic than I. I loafed along at 17 minutes, but I don't compete. I just do it for fun and to stay in shape."

For the first time she smiled and Cho was sure that his heart skipped a beat. "I don't really compete. I do five and 10K races for fun, but I'm not serious. I usually come in in the top 10 or 15, but some people are so serious it scary!" She smiled.

Cho laughed. "Yes, I've known a couple like that. They do hate to lose."

She smiled and stuck out her hand. "I'm Lee Sun-Hi. My friends call me Sunny." She grinned.

Cho Smiled and shrugged. "I'm less traditional. I'm Kimball Cho and my friends call me Cho."

Sunny smiled. "I don't blame them." They both laughed.

"I'm going up to the Taco Bell and refuel my body, want to join me?" Sunny look at him hopefully.

Cho was stunned. He'd been wondering how to really meet her and her she was offering to spend time with him. "Sounds like a plan," he said deadpan. "The body must be fed."

The Taco Bell was less than a mile away, and they took their time, chatting about what they enjoyed doing. They were entering the Taco Bell. Sunny had just informed him that she worked in a hospital as an aid and was getting ready to graduate from college, when a group of rowdy teens came boiling out of the door, pushing and shoving. One pushed Cho, and much to his surprise, found himself tangled in the legs of another one of his buddies, who had been going to accost Sunny. They went down in a heap, and somehow their two friends became entangled and joined the pile of squirming cursing humanity.

Cho held out a hand to Sunny, saying, "Our Nachos await."

She smiled, took the proffered hand and they went in to order.

oOOOo


	2. Pain in the Neck

**Cho's Sun  
**Chapter 02  
(Pain in the Neck)

The only way anyone would beat Cho into the office would be to sleep there. Jane often slept there, last night being one of those time. He opened one eye as Cho entered. Cho was not noisy, but he was not trying to be quiet either. Jane studied him, from his prone position, watching as he bustled around. He smiled. Cho was different this morning.

"Who is she?" Jane smiled and took a sip of tea.

Cho stared at Jane, raising his eyebrows. "Who," he asked.

"That's what I asked you," Jane said.

"What are you talking about?" There was a edge of exasperation in his voice.

"I was asking you who the girl you met was. That's all. No need to get all defensive." Jane smiled his very annoying smile again, sipping tea.

"I am not defensive," Cho said, frowning.

"Yes you are. You are refusing my answer my question and you frowned, and from your body language, if I didn't know you better, I'd be worried."

"Jane, if you didn't owe me so many times, I'd be tempted to hurt you. If I hurt you, I'd probably have to fix you, though. Besides, why do you say I met a girl?"

Undaunted, Jane grinned. "It's Monday morning. A normal Monday, you come in, get the coffee I've made, purely out of the kindness of my heart, since I don't drink the stuff, and grumble about it. You then sit at your desk, shuffling case files and frowning. This morning you float in, get coffee and actually smile as you sip it. You then leaned back and stared out of the window. You haven't touched a case file yet." Jane smiled and continued. "If you haven't met a girl then I'm not psychic."

Cho closed his eyes and shook his head. "You are not psychic, Jane"

"I know. There's no such thing. I just wanted to see if you were listening. But you did meet a girl. You didn't deny that." Jane looked very pleased.

"OK, I met a girl. Her name is Sunny. She seems like a nice kid."

Jane intently stared at Cho. Are you blushing? And did you have se..... " Cho's hard glare aborted the soon to become too personal question.

"Koreans do not blush! Now, don't you have work to do?" Cho glared at him. "You do don't you? Work can keep you safe. You like work!"

Jane smiled but did lie back down on the couch. Teasing Cho was fun, but beyond a certain point, it could become hazardous to one's health. In normal circumstances, Jane's sense of self-preservation was fully functional, but it was so much fun making Cho twitch.

Lisbon, Van Pelt, and Rigsby made a noisy laughing entrance. "I told you he was going to do that," Rigsby said, laughing. There was general laughter and assent.

Jane sat up and announced, "Cho has a girl friend!" The glare Cho directed at Jane told everyone all they needed to know.

"That's nice," Lisbon offered. "Don't you have something to do?"

Jane sighed, took a sip of cooling tea. "Yes, Boss," he said lying back down.

Everyone scattered to their respective posts and the office settled down to it normal routine.

The week passed normally. They tied up some loose ends, testified at a couple of cases, contributing to solid convictions, and caught one new major case of arson. The arson case was not too convoluted, but it was high profile. The quick solution brought in by Rigsby and Jane made CBI look good. So good that the entire crew was given Friday off, and almost unheard of event.

Cho was meeting Sunny, tonight. She had later classes Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, she had an evening seminar, but Thursday, she only had a morning class. Thursday was the first evening they could get together. He'd sent her a text message, telling her he had Friday off. Her reply had been simple, "!!".

The restaurant was nice, quiet, but not fancy. They had decided on Italian, tonight, the pasta giving them a carb load after their vigorous run. They'd done a five mile course, setting a blistering pace. Side by side they paced each other, not racing, but each testing the other. Their speed precluded conversation, but they were so attuned, that words were essentially unnecessary. Cho did briefly speculate that, if this were a date, it would be one of the best, then he had to focus on maintaining his pace. Now what not the time for idle speculation.

"I think my legs are wasted," Sunny said. "Probably limper than the spaghetti they serve here. That was quite a jog!"

Cho smiled and took a sip of ice water. "If you call that a jog, please, never ask me to go for a run with you. I'm more use to running for coffee, than running like something's after me!"

She laughed. "Now, now, you know you were holding back. You are a very proper gentleman. That was fun. We should do it again, sometime. Say, next month?"

"That soon?" Cho grinned.

Their meals arrived and they fell silent, doing proper justice to the food.

Sunny's apartment was small, not much larger than a dorm room. "It's humble but it's home," she said, waving him in.

Cho looked around and nodded. "Hmmmm. Nice. Not much bigger than mine."

She laughed and punched him in the arm. "Now you're being patronizing. It's all I can afford, going to school.

"OK, it's not really bigger, but mine isn't much larger. I don't need more so why pay for it? It serves my needs."

"That sounds like something I'd expect you to say. You seem very practical and logical. I find that very appealing." She put her hand on his arm. "You mentioned that you don't have to go to work tomorrow, right?"

Cho nodded. "Got the whole day off, as long as we don't catch a hot one."

Sunny smiled. "Does than mean you don't have to rush back to your apartment tonight? Sometimes, it gets lonely in here late at night."

oOOOo


	3. Bad Day

_**Not as long as I'd have wished,  
but it's such a good breaking point.**_

**Cho's Sun  
**Chapter 03  
(Bad Day)

The bright morning sun snapped Cho's eyes open. He started to executed his morning bridge, but a warm body next to him caused him to freeze. Last night came rushing back to him. He relaxed and smiled a smile that CBI would probably never see. He rolled toward her and found himself in a very warm embrace.

"You make fifty push ups look easy," Sunny said. "I've never been good at those and it really irritates me."

Cho bounced, again, not breathing hard. "Not to worry, Sunny. We all have different capabilities. You run like a gazelle, so that's your strength. A wise woman once told me that I should play to my strength. Go with that."

Sunny grinned, stood on tip toe and kissed him. "You know, I could get to like you and having you around! You make me feel good."

"The feeling is more than mutual." He hugged her, stepped back and slipped his shirt on. "What do you say we go find some food. For some reason, I feel really calorie depleted."

The three day weekend passed far quicker than Cho would have liked. As he entered the bullpen, he wondered what Jane was going to have to say. He shook his head. "I don't give a damn," he thought, offering Jane a challenging stare.

Patrick smiled and held up both hands, palms showing. "Peace. I'm not saying a thing. Not a word. My lips are sealed." His irritating smile widened. "Even when I know all, I do not always tell all!"

Cho grunted. "Lucky for you," he muttered just loud enough for Patrick to hear.

The day was proceeding at a normal pace when Cho's phone chirped. He flipped it open an called up the pending text message. Jane, who had started watching him when he heard the cell phone chirp, realized something serious had just happened. Cho looked frozen. Jane covered the intervening distance almost instantly. "Tell me," he commanded Cho.

Cho turned the cell phone so Jane could read. It was a text message from Sunny. It said: "Don't bother to come. She's been chosen."

Jane read it and sharply exhaled. "Let's go," he said. "I'll drive, you tell me where we're going." Jane pulled Cho from his chair. "Lisbon, we'll be back as soon as we can." Neither waited for an answer and they ran out of the building.

The apartment showed signs of a struggle and there was the lingering odor of pepper spray. The chain on the door was broken. Apparently, Sunny had opened the door on the chain, not realizing those chains are worthless. A good hard smack on the door and the screws will pop out, the heads will rip off, or the chain will break. Most are actually worth less than what you pay for them, and most of them are cheap.

They both read forced entry as the method. Jane closed his eyes and sniffed. "Under the odor of pepper spray," he said, "I smell ether. Ether's a good sign."

"Ether? Good?" Cho asked.

"Ether is available at any gas station as starting fluid. It takes no special skill to use or obtain. The chain on the door is broken, so whoever it was didn't know her schedule or wasn't willing to wait. We're not seeing a lot of planning here. Also, ether means he didn't want to damage her. We have every reason to believe she's alive."

"Hope you're right. Now we have to figure out who..." Cho paused. "I'll check the businesses around and see if there are any security cameras that are covering the area. Maybe we can get a picture of him leaving with her."

Jane nodded. "I want to spend a little more time, here. We can meet at the car."

The ride back to the office was silent except for Jane explaining what was going on. "Right, he said. "You're OK with it being a team effort." He nodded and smiled. A thumbs up sign flashed to Cho indicated her assent. "We'll be back with surveillance video in a few..... Yes.... OK....." He flipped his phone shut. "Cho, I'm not going to be so stupid as to tell you not to worry. I just want you to know that the whole team is with you and we're working on it together. We'll get this done."

Cho weakly smiled. "Pull this one out of your hat and we're even."

Jane smiled and added another ten miles per hour to their already excessive speed.

oOOOo


	4. The Hunt

**Cho's Sun  
**Chapter 04  
(The Hunt)

The bullpen was bustling with activity. Lisbon had gotten the case officially assigned to them, so they had full bureau resources behind them. That would be a valuable asset.

"I have an ID," Van Pelt announced. She'd been running facial recognition software against frames from the surveillance footage that Cho had obtained. Everyone gathered to see. "He's a small time gang banger, Brandon Hill. It's a small local gang that's mostly involved with covering themselves, small time drug dealing and boosting cars. These are not heavy hitters and this is totally out of character."

"Do we have an address on him," Lisbon asked.

"I have his motor vehicle information and his address of record for his parole officer, guess what! [pause] They are the same! Do you think he actually lives there?"

Four voices echoed, "Let's find out!"

"This does not take the whole team," Lisbon barked. "Jane, Cho, check it out. Call for backup if he's really there."

They wheeled, and just reached the door when Cho's phone chimed a text alert. He stopped in his tracks, grabbed the phone and opened it. With a deadly serious look on his face, he held it so Jane could read it.

"_Let Shushu free  
More soon.,"  
_was all it said.

"This changes things," Jane said. "Good old Brandon may be local, but Shushu sure isn't. We'd better move very carefully, here." He stood motionless, thinking. "Cho, text them back and ask why and tell them to call with the reason. We need them in a dialog."

"I got a fix on the phone, but it's on the other side of town and was moving before it went off. I think they were driving around to make the call. Since this is the second time they used her phone, they are probably pulling the battery to disable the GPS." Van Pelt looked very frustrated.

"Shoulda let that sumabitch choke on his own blood," Cho muttered.

Jane nodded in silent agreement. Lisbon grimaced, but said nothing.

Cho's phone range. He snatched at it and looked at the caller. He nodded and started to open it, but Jane stopped him. He held out his hand, indicating that Cho should give him the phone. Cho hesitated. "Give," Jane demanded. "This is my specialty." Cho sighed and gave him the phone.

Jane flipped it opened and spoke. "Jane." He listened. "Well, I'm the one you need to talk to, now.......Yes.....No.....Put her on and we can continue to talk, otherwise I have no reason to believe you......" Jane's face softened. Yes, I'll tell Cho that you're OK." His face hardened. "We'll wait." He snapped the phone shut. "Sunny said she's OK, but that's about all she had time before they took the phone. They said that they'd call back in an hour with instructions, so we've got an hour to work on this. We've got some time."

"Grace, where did the call come from," Lisbon asked. Van Pelt move the cursor to the last call area. "Highlight the prior location, please." They all stared at the two locations. "Can you get the record of the location of the first call?"

"I think so," Grace answered. "The location of calls are logged." She busied herself at the keyboard. "I got it!" She added that one to the map.

They all could see that all of the calls had originated from a rather small area. "They aren't moving around all that much. Either they have no clue how obvious they are or they are careless or overconfident." Lisbon drew a circle, with her finger, around the zone the calls originated from. "We know they will call in an hour. If they continue with this pattern, we can be in the area, ready to respond."

They all stared at each other and nodded. Jane verbalized what they were all thinking. "Sounds like a plan, Boss. Let's do it."

Lisbon stood. "Van Pelt, you stay on the computer and keep track of that cell phone as much as you can. Find out all you can about this Brandon character and his gang and it's affiliations. Rigsby, you come with me. Jane, you and Cho follow us. We'll rendezvous here," she said tapping the map. "Set your radios to tach two."

The area they were in was mostly residential, but it wasn't far from the hospital that Shushu was in. Now, it was a waiting game. Until they called, there was no real way to know where they may be. "If Shushu was actually released from the hospital, I'm not sure how well he could navigate," Jane said. "His face is wired together, and I understand that both of his eyes are swollen shut. You really did a number on him."

"Not enough of a number," Cho grumbled.

The radio squawked to life, Van Pelt coming across the air. "Heads up. I've found the address of a cousin of Brandon Hill in the area you are posted." She read off the address.

Lisbon came on the air. "Jane, you and Cho check out that address. I'm going to stay mobile."

Cho was driving the CBI car. He lost no time making his way to the indicated address, arriving slowly and quietly, preferring unobtrusive stealth. They arrived and parked three quarters block from the house. It was a corner house, one and a half story, neat, but needing maintenance. It was surrounded by some shrubbery and had a fairly stout tree next to it. "A burglar's dream house," Jane observed. "We have twenty minutes before we're supposed to get the next call. Want to check it out?"

The approach was simple. Just walk up. They did look around prior to vanishing into the shrubbery, but it was more of a formality than a necessity. It was a very quiet street.

They made their way to a window. Jane removed a small mirror from his jacket pocket, attached to a telescoping rod, and the used it to allow them to peer into the room without being seen. What they saw caused both of them to start!

oOOOo


	5. Cho's Sun, Chosen by Cho

**Cho's Sun  
**Chapter 05  
(Cho's Sun, Chosen by Cho)

They were looking into a small living room. The interior of the room was a stark contrast to the outside neatness of the house, leading Jane to speculate that the owner of the house was not at home and that it had been usurped by Brandon and company for their own use. Sunny was bound with duct tape to a kitchen chair, and placed in front of a TV, in the living room. One side of her face was bruised, and there was a slight blood trail out of the corner of her mouth, but she seemed alert and relatively unharmed. The TV was on, masking any casual sounds. He could see at least three men in the room, too. "Ten minutes," Jane whispered.

"There's a bed room in the attic, I think. I'm going to try to get up there. There's a trellis next to the window." Suiting action to words, he went to the side with the trellis and began a carefully silent assent. Jane called for backup, code 2.

Cho's ascent was flawless. The single window was readily accessible. It was stiff to open, but not locked. "Some days you get lucky," he thought. "Hope my luck continues."

The room was not a bed room. The floor was unfinished, except for a few boards placed in a haphazard manner, allowing one to walk without crashing through the thin wallboard, into the room below. He stared into the darkest corner to allow his eyes to adjust to the dimness. When he was able, he carefully examined his surroundings. There was a folding stairway that was used for access, but it appeared the attic space was mostly unused. There were a few storage boxes covered with dust, but no signs of any recent activity.

Glancing around, he mentally mapped what he'd seen of the house below to his position. He was fairly certain that the stairwell did not lower into the living room, but there was a good chance it was visible from there. If he dropped it, and it was impossible to do that silently, he would probably be a target waiting to happen. Also, he didn't want to be shooting in the general direction of Sunny. He was a good shot, but even a great shot can't be perfect on a folding, rickety stairwell, acting as a target.

A diversion was needed and Jane didn't have a gun. That's when he heard one of the crew below say, "It's time to call."

"Yea, now we tell them the rest of it. I don't give a damn is Shushu lives or dies. I want the money."

Money? This was the first Cho had heard of money. "Double cross," he thought. "They are working some sort of double cross."

"Hey, I'm with you, but let's stick close to the script. We've done OK so far."

"Makes sense to me," another voice said. "Let's get it done."

There was silence, then one of the voices said, "Are you ready to deal?"

Cho really wanted to know what Jane was saying. He was going to assume that he was going to stall for as much time as possible until backup arrived. He hoped that it would be enough.

"We want one million dollars. We want Shushu put on a charter plane, fueled with enough fuel for six hours. Then we want safe passage to the airport. Once we get on the plane, we'll release this sweet little girl and we'll all go home happy."

The sound of an approaching siren split the air. There was the sound of confused motion from downstairs. "What the hell are you doing? Call off your pigs or I start shooting pieces off of this sweet little thing."

Cho couldn't believe it. "Jane called for code 2! I'm going to hand someone their head!" He'd fixed their positions by the sound of their voices. He couldn't afford to wait. He picked up an 18 inch piece of rebar that was lying on one of the boxes, picked his position and stepped onto the thin wallboard of the floor/ceiling.

He fell through, like a stone through paper. Landing in a crouch, he uncoiled like a spring released, holding the rebar straight out in front of himself. The target was the man pointing a gun at Sunny. The rebar struck him in the left short ribs, knocking him to the side, ruining his aim. The gun discharged, going through harmless space and embedding somewhere outside. Cho made an upward sweep with the rebar, striking the gunman under the chin, dropping him like a stone.

He spun to face the other two, neither of which had a gun, but both drew knives. Cho quickly stepped towards the lead man and sent the rebar crashing into his wrist as he made a pathetic slash towards him. The knife when flying and a strong kick to the groin sent him to the floor, hugging himself in the fetal position.

The third man stepped back and assumed a much more defensive stance. Lisbon, Rigsby and Jane came roaring into the room. "Drop it," Rigsby barked.

Compliance was instant. The odds had become too overwhelming and he did not have a death wish.

Cho knelt next to Sunny and cut the tape from her hands, arms and legs. She shakily stood and wrapped her arms around him. Cho didn't care if it was relief, for support or affection. He was simply glad she was alive and unharmed.

"Cho," Lisbon said, "Taker her home and let her get cleaned up and relax a little. When she feels like it, bring her on in and we'll take her statement. We'll clean up here, you get her home."

"Yes, Boss," Cho agreed. "Right away."

"Jane, you'll ride back with us. Since you were here and took the final telephone call, we'll be wanting your statement as soon as we get back." Lisbon smile at Jane's groan.

Sunny's apartment was steamy from the shower. She'd insisted that a shower was essential for life itself.

"Cho," she called. "Could you come here? I can't quite reach my back."

oOOOo


	6. Epilog

**Cho's Sun**  
Epilog

Rigsby reached for another slice of pizza. "I can't believe they were so stupid. When was the last time we wrapped up a case so quickly?"

Jane nodded. "Give us a million and a plane and we'll let her go. Riiiiight! And I'll make a down payment on that pretty bridge, too."

"Where is Cho," Grace asked. She looked around and realized that everyone was staring at her, smiling. She blushed. "Oh, I didn't think of that."

Even Lisbon had to laugh, despite her sincere efforts to keep a straight face. "It's OK, Love. The twenty-first century will wait for you to join it. There's no rush," Jane said. "You just keep being your own sweet self!"

Grace became very interested in the piece of pizza that was refusing to let go of the box.

The day was rapidly approaching its end. "Let's call it a day, people. Tomorrow will offer us new and invigorating challenges." Lisbon stood and gathered her belongings.

The room quickly emptied and silence reigned.

oOOOo

**OK, people. If you read it let me know. Feedback is appreciated. Working in a vacuum is not easy!**


End file.
